Without You
by Hailyebug
Summary: Takes place in the summer after 4x23. Damon is losing Elena and he's helpless to save her. But what if this is all really about saving him? What if he is the one that's lost? Basically another short Delena drabble with guaranteed fluff. Another one for the Delena fans out there!


**A/N: Welcome to another short drabble from my ever so lively Damon/Elena imagination. I swear this is the best TV couple I've seen since Lois and Clark from Smallville, or maybe Luka and Abby from ER, but let's not get into those fandoms here. Lol. Anyways, this starts off a bit gut wrenching but changes if you stick around for the ending. It's short so you shouldn't suffer too long! I suffered a bit writing it so I can sympathize. Love to you all for reading. You keep me writing!**

Damon was running so fast his mind barely had time to keep up with where he was going. He had never imagined feeling slow, as powerful and fast as he was, although in this moment he felt like he was running through quicksand. Time flew by him as he ran, fear gripping his heart like a vice. He knew every second between himself and her could be the second he was too late. Elena was in trouble and he had to reach her before she would be gone from his life forever. A life without her after just barely beginning his life with her was an agonizing thought. She made him whole, made him want to be a better person. He couldn't lose the one thing that was actually right in his life, the one thing that brought him true happiness. Without her, without that beautiful smile and her kind soul, her loving embrace and understanding of his faults and insecurities, he would be lost forever.

He didn't know what danger plagued her. He just knew something was horribly wrong. His mind was trying to block out the possible things that he may face when he found her, trying to keep the focus on just running, closing the gap between them. Without warning she suddenly came into view ahead of him. Her body was slouched over on all fours and his sensitive hearing picked up immediately on her panting, his keen sense of smell taken aback by the overwhelming amount of blood around her.

In an instant he was at her side, pushing her up to face him. Tears were streaming down her face as she dropped her hands from the dagger that was plunged into her chest.

"Damon!" she cried as her hands went to his shoulders for support. "Damon, I knew you'd find me!" Her lips quivered as more tears escaped her eyes.

"Elena, I'm here. It's alright. Everything is going to be alright," Damon almost cooed to her, trying to soothe her. He reached forward as he looked into her eyes, grabbing the dagger and pulling it out as quickly as he could. Elena let out a heavy sigh and fell forward onto his chest with relief. Damon held her tight to him for a moment, enveloping himself in her warmth. Then he reached down and bit into his wrist and pushed it up to her mouth. "Drink," he pleaded, "You need blood Elena, it'll help heal the wound quicker."

She just looked up at him, and something in that look immediately caused the blood in his veins to run cold. It scared him to death the way she looked at him. He was suddenly confused. Why was she still crying? Between her vampire nature and his blood she should heal just fine. He didn't understand why tears were still falling down her cheeks, why she still looked so pale with fear and despair.

"Elena, it's okay, you'll be alright. Just drink, my blood will help you heal faster. I'll get you home and you can rest right up and…" but Damon's words were lost to him as she shook her head slowly, causing tears to fall from her rosy cheeks to the cold ground.

"Damon, the dagger, it…" Elena took a deep breath through quivering lips and reached up to wipe the tears from her face. "The dagger was soaked in werewolf venom. This wound won't…_I _won't heal." Elena tried to keep the tears from falling. She wanted to be strong for Damon. This would be hard enough for him without her falling apart. She reached a hand up to cup his cheek, giving him a weak smile. Damon still looked at her, lost in his own thoughts, trapped by the fear in his mind. For a moment, his body didn't respond. He couldn't feel her touch, didn't see her face. All he could see was darkness. "Damon?" Elena whispered, trying to bring him back to her. He looked into her eyes, noticed the sheen of sweat beginning to glisten on her face, and noticed the heaviness of her breath. The venom must be spreading quickly due to the depth and the placement of the dagger. A single tear fell from his eye before he was brought back to her.

"We can fix this Elena. _I_ can fix this. Just let me get you home. We've got to get you some blood and let you rest."

Elena nodded to him, sniffling and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he stood, swinging her up into his arms. She knew there would be no point in saying anymore to him and she really did just want to go home and be with Damon while she still could.

When they reached the boarding house he took her straight up to his room and quickly retrieved several blood bags for her. The hole in her chest had closed up somewhat but she was still losing blood as it oozed from the infected wound. Damon had propped her up against a mound of pillows trying to give her some modicum of physical comfort, knowing the pain she was experiencing thanks to his own near death encounter with werewolf venom. He sat beside her on the bed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She smiled up at him, reaching a hand out to clasp his.

"Elena, I have to go to him. You need Klaus's blood. I have to find him." Damon went to stand but Elena only tightened her grip on his hand, pulling him back down to her.

"There's no time," she said hoarsely. Her voice was weak. The venom was doing its damage quickly. "Damon, we don't even know where he is. Caroline has tried to call him and we haven't heard anything. You couldn't possibly…"

"Elena I have to try!" His voice was shaky and loud. He didn't have much self-control left as he watched the love of his life begin to wither away before his eyes. Damon knew the venom would kill her without Klaus' blood. He couldn't let that happen. Not to her. She didn't deserve this.

"Damon, please…" Elena begged. "Damon, I don't want to be alone. I…please don't leave. I'm afraid if you leave, it'll be the last time I see you…" Elena was then overcome by a coughing fit. She leaned forward, gasping for air as Damon held her shoulders to support her. He pulled her to him, holding her so tight he thought they would melt into each other. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her. He wasn't ready for this. His life finally had meaning and if she went, everything worth living for went with her. He wouldn't survive this.

"Elena…" Her name fell from his lips, the only word he could force himself to say as he laid down and tucked her into himself, wishing more than anything that he could absorb her pain, take away her suffering. Her back to him, he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She nuzzled her face into his arm, kissing his exposed skin. Damon reached up and stroked her hair, grateful she wasn't facing him to see the tears streaming down his cheeks. He too knew there was no way to find Klaus before she succumbed to the venom. He had deluded himself into thinking it was possible in a moment of desperation, only to be brought back to reality by Elena. He wouldn't leave her alone, not now.

They laid there in silence for an unmeasured span of time before Elena spoke. "Damon," she said as she turned slowly to face him. "Can you take me outside? It's so stuffy in here and I just want some fresh air."

Damon looked down at her, his eyes full of pain as she reached up to wipe the tear stains from his face. She smiled at him, that smile that always made him feel like he was home. He couldn't deny her now.

"Of course, Elena. Anything you want," he tried to smile back at her with his usual devious smirk but the smile he gave was just a ghost of his usual grin. As much as he didn't want her to see him in pain, he was barely holding himself together. Carefully, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her downstairs and took her out onto the deck off the side of the house and sat her on a bench, wrapped up in a soft throw. She looked to him to sit down with her but Damon just began to pace. Grief was beginning to swallow him, take hold of his consciousness.

"Damon?" Elena called out to him softly, but he ignored her. Honestly her voice had not reached his ears. His fists were balled at his sides as he paced back and forth between the furniture. In an instant he had his hands on one of the side tables and with all his might he threw it into the window of the house, causing the window to fall to pieces, just like his life. The table clattered to the ground and Elena gasped. Tears were falling from Damon's eyes, clouding his vision, but he managed to grab a hold of another piece of furniture and it too went flying, crashing somewhere in the distance. Damon fell to his knees, punching the ground with his bare knuckles, tearing his flesh with each impact. Elena tore herself from the bench to move towards him, but as she took a step forward she began to fall, too weak to stand. Damon looked up, prepared to catch her, but as she fell everything suddenly went dark. Damon saw nothing.

Suddenly, he felt pressure on his arm. Something felt as if it was shaking him, but he ignored it. Whatever it was he didn't care. Elena was lost to him. His whole world had just fallen apart and he was just a scattered piece of a life that used to be. But whatever he was feeling was persistent. The shaking did not cease, but yet became more intense. And then, like a light shining in a dark room, a voice called out to him, causing him to look up. He certainly thought he had lost his mind. No one was here in this dark place. It was only himself and all the wrong he had done in his life. He was here because somehow karma had caught up to him and stripped him of his happiness.

The voice was louder this time, loud enough that he could make out what it was saying and that only confused him more. "Damon?!" the voice was concerned. Not only that, but it was _her_ voice. He figured his mind must be playing tricks, but he needed to call out to her. Every bone in his body pushed him to look for her, to find out where she was calling to him from.

"Elena? Elena where are you?" he called into the darkness.

"Damon, I'm right here Damon. Shhhh, it's okay. Look at me," the voice replied, and Damon could feel a cool touch on his forehead, pressing against his warm skin. The feeling took his breath away. "Damon open your eyes," the voice pleaded. Suddenly, Damon ripped his eyes open, light blinding him momentarily. Then Elena came into view. She leaned forward, her face scrunched in worry, hair hanging down around her face tickling Damon's bare chest. Light shone around her in the bright room like the sun breaking over the horizon. All he could see was her. "Damon, you were having a bad dream. I was afraid for a second there that you were gonna roll right out of the bed and…" but Elena's words were cut off, along with her breathing, as Damon sat up and embraced her so fiercely that it startled her. He was gasping for air, taking in her intoxicating scent with each gulp of air. He buried his face into the crook of her neck as she ran her hands up and down his back, clearly aware that the dream must have really startled him.

"Damon, are you okay? Look at me," she said as she pulled back from him just enough to lift his face to meet hers.

"I thought I lost you…" Damon whispered as he held her gaze, not ever wanting to look away from those gorgeous eyes, full of life.

"Oh Damon, I'm right here. Everything's alright now. I don't know what you saw but it didn't happen. I'm safe, you're safe, and we're here together. I'm not going anywhere," Elena cooed as she put both hands on his face, stoking his cheeks with the pads of her thumbs. Damon brought his hands up to cover hers, holding them to his face. He leaned forward and pulled Elena into a deep, longing kiss. She really was here. He hadn't lost her. He broke away from the kiss and pulled her down with him to lay back down beneath the covers of the bed. She turned to face him and laid her hand on his cheek and slowly ran her finger back and forth along his cheek bone. This slowed his breathing and relaxed him, finally bringing a familiar smile back to his face. They didn't get out of bed that day for quite some time. Elena had stroked Damon's cheek until she fell back asleep and Damon kept his eyes wide open, taking in the image of Elena peacefully sleeping for as long as he could before he knew she would awake again.

**A/N: Whew! I have no idea where this little fic came from but I just had to write it. I liked the idea of Elena comforting Damon and kind of looking into what the fear of losing her might feel like for Damon. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Just another random drabble looking** **for some review love!**


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